Debt Collection Service Newsletter 07/2007
Newsletter topics:
- Reporting claims to the Schufa (German Credit Registration Office)
- Austrian business information
- New legal interest rate
- Insolvencies in April 2007
1. Reporting claims to the Schufa (German Credit Registration Office)
Zyklop´s reporting of legally valid claims to the Schufa appears to be an effective means of persuading debtors to start paying.
Schufa registration regularly results in a considerable restriction of economic freedom: no more new bank loans, no credit card, the debtor does not even get a mobile telephone contract.
Only after receipt of payment in full of our claims do we inform Schufa of the fact that the case has been closed. This information is retained for three years before it is completely deleted.
2. Austrian business information
We have once again extended the scope of our business information through cooperation with the Austrian information database Wisur GmbH.
Within seconds you can check the information regarding both private persons and companies via our online portal.
Interested? Please call our information department under (+49(0)2151/5299-499.
3. New legal interest rate
W.e.f. 1.7.2007 the basic interest rate of the German National Bank is 3.19 % (was: 2.70 %).
The legal interest rate involving private persons is 5 % higher, i.e. 8.19 %, for businesses 8 % higher, i.e.11,19 %. (§§ 247, 288 BGB)
Our recommendation: arrange with your business partners a higher interest rate in the case of default. Such an arrangement always takes priority over the legal interest rate!
4. Insolvencies in April 2007
The decreasing tendency of the last two years with regard to company insolvencies in Germany continued in April 2007. In July the Federal Bureau of Statistics reported that German courts for that month registered 2,224 company insolvencies, 14.3% less than in April 2006. Consumer’s insolvencies on the other hand increased: its number of 8,239 cases implied an increase of 24.7% as opposed to April 2006. Including insolvencies of other private debtors and write-offs, the overall number of insovencies totalled 12,931 cases (+ 10.4%).
For April 2007 the courts quoted anticipated creditor claims of EUR 2.3 billion as opposed to EUR 3.4 billion for April 2006. Although company insolvencies only represented 17% of all insolvency cases, they still represented 60% of all claims.
From January until April 2007 records showed 9,560 company insolvencies (- 13.1%) and 34,686 consumer insolvencies (+ 22.4 %). In total the courts registered 54,862 insolvencies, which was 10.1% more than in April 2006. (Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics)
Contact
Zyklop Inkasso Deutschland GmbH
Ass. jur. Frank Gallep
Email: Frank.Gallep(bittekeinspam)zyklop.de
